Electrochemical Reductive Deuteration of Diphenyl(phenylethynyl)phosphine Oxides

Herein, we developed electrochemical reductive deuteration of diphenyl(phenylethynyl)phosphine oxides by using D2O as the deuterium source under mild conditions without the need for external reductants. A range of deuterated phenethyldiphenylphosphine oxides were afforded in moderate to excellent yields with satisfactory D-incorporation. Mechanistically, an electrochemically generated radical anion intermediate is proposed to be involved.